Free Web NovelChapter 272: Chapter 272: Buying Mountain Land
Bai Suihe did not go to the city that day. Unbeknownst to her, almost everyone in the village, except for the original residents, had practically left.
After traveling for so long and enduring such hardships, of course, they wanted to enter the city to improve their lives and purchase some supplies.
The entire Gu Family mobilized, with smiles on everyone’s faces, finally able to visit the city’s restaurants.
But when they entered the county town and saw the already packed small restaurant, they were dumbfounded.
This so-called restaurant only had five or six tables, without even a private room.
"You all are late," Zhou Gang’s family managed to grab the last table and greeted them with a smile, "It’s a pity this table is too small; otherwise, our two families could have shared it.
Master Gu, why don’t you join us for a bite first? Once we’re done, it will be your family’s turn."
With that, he generously called for the waiter, "Bring your best wine over."
In such a small county town, the waiters knew clearly who had arrived. These were those fallen noble families who didn’t lack silver. Anyone exiled here would engage in retaliatory spending, and once they spent all they had, they would settle down. But these people were generous, and right now, they were treated like ancestors. The waiter immediately agreed and quickly brought over the best wine they had.
"My lord, this is our finest Huadiao wine, enjoy it."
Zhou Gang shook the wine jug, "How about it, Master Gu, care to join us?"
Despite being tempted, Gu Baijiang knew Zhou Gang had no good intentions, "We won’t intrude on your family’s enjoyment. We’ll come back later."
After saying that, he immediately turned away decisively, "Let’s go buy some things first."
As the family was about to enter a grain store, they saw Gu Kaiyuan entering a small courtyard not far ahead, with Lin Hua following last and closing the door.
"Dad?" Gu Kaiping asked, "Should I go knock on the door?"
"Ignore him, his wings have grown hard," Gu Baijiang said with disdain. Gu Kaiyuan was short-sighted, thinking that clinging to the Bai Family would lead to wealth, not realizing that merchants weren’t so easy to manipulate.
Gu Baijiang definitely had an account to settle for the Bai Family’s recent actions. The real hard days would come for Gu Kaiyuan, who lived off the Bai Family.
Even if he regretted it, the Gu family’s doors would forever be closed to him.
"Go in and buy more grain. Second child, go find out if there’s anyone who can repair houses; we need to get our house fixed quickly, or everyone will suffer in the rainy weather."
Gu Kaichen said, "...But where do I find someone to repair the house?"
"Don’t you know to ask? What are your long tongues for?" Gu Baijiang snapped, "Who used to handle house repairs before?"
"Those were all the third child’s tasks," Gu Kaichen muttered, "Didn’t you and mom say that my elder brother and I just needed to focus on our studies and not worry about trivial matters?"
"From now on, you will take care of these things," Gu Baijiang insisted. He didn’t believe that Gu Kaichen, still a child, couldn’t manage what Gu Kaiyuan had done.
"You’re old enough now, and with your studies neglected during this time, it’s unlikely you’ll pass as a Scholar. In the future, assist your elder brother in managing the household affairs well."
"Why should I?" Gu Kaichen protested unfairly, "My elder brother and I are blood siblings, not half his servants. I feel I can still try. What if I pass..."
"Our family isn’t rehabilitated yet; where are you going to take the exam?
First, find someone to build a house, then see where furniture is available; we need to purchase many household items, so stop causing trouble."
After Gu Baijiang finished speaking, he led people into the grain store, leaving Gu Kaichen stomping his feet in anger, feeling that he was being made to replace Gu Kaiyuan’s previous tasks.
Now he slightly regretted it. If they could bring Gu Kaiyuan back, would someone else handle these trivial matters at home?
As he was preparing to head forward, Gu Kaiping, who saw this scene, stopped him, "Second brother, I advise you not to go against dad. We are about to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so why bring back the third child now?"
Gu Kaichen replied, "...Who said I’m calling the third child back? I’m going to ask some questions ahead."
Gu Kaiping no longer cared, following them into the grain store.
The grain prices here were still reasonable, similar to the prices in the capital, much cheaper than the post station, so since they came with an ox cart today, they had to buy more.
Gu Kaichen stood outside the courtyard where Gu Kaiyuan had entered, waiting for a long time without hearing any sound from inside, so he left.
Unbeknownst to him, Gu Kaiyuan was well aware of his actions but chose not to acknowledge him.
Lin Wei, who had woken up early to handle affairs, was worried. While they enjoyed comfortable days in the county town, young master and young madam were still enduring hardships. "Young master, we’ve already found people to build the house. The grain has also been purchased; shall we head to Tian Village now?"
"Have Zhuang Datou take the people back first, and you can also go find and buy the building materials."
"It’s all been bought," Lin Wei replied, having handled these tasks since they settled down yesterday, buying both manpower and materials.
"Not bad," Gu Kaiyuan praised, then turned to Yun Ni and the others, "I’m afraid the days ahead will still be hard for you all."
"This is what we should do. We should have gone to the village with you yesterday. We didn’t rest well, staying in the city for the night," Yun Ni had already stood up. The previous day, Gu Kaiyuan had generously let them rest in the city for a night to refresh themselves.
However, their primary duty was to protect Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Suihe. If anything happened that night, they would have no place in this line of work.
Fortunately, the night passed peacefully; now they could proceed to Tian Village with peace of mind.
After giving the necessary instructions regarding the goods brought by the two escort agencies, they chose some items currently needed to take back, leaving the rest in the small courtyard.
The next step involved understanding the county town. This place, named Zhang County, was a recently established county. Only 20% of its population were original residents; the rest were exiled here.
Apart from some families of convicted officials, there were numerous wrongdoers. The situation was quite chaotic, and it was said that there were many disputes here, keeping the County Magistrate busy from morning till night to resolve cases.
The place was mostly mountainous, with flat areas already housing villages. However, each village was far from one another, and probably only the Lord of the county office knew how many villages there were in total.
"Come with me to the county office," Gu Kaiyuan beckoned to Lin Wei and Lin Hua, "I’m going to buy a few mountain peaks."
Lin Hua responded, "Young master, what’s good about buying mountains here? Better to buy estates."
